Xie Xingfang


Xie Xingfang is a retired Chinese badminton player from Guangzhou, Guangdong. She is a former defending two-time world champion for women's singles, and former women's singles World No. 1.
Her first big title was in girls' doubles, with her provincial team mate Zhang Jiewen, at the World Junior Championships in 1998. She has also won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in mixed doubles with Cai Yun. However, once she entered the Chinese national team, she switched to singles. 2004 was her "break-out" year, as she won several top tier titles on the world circuit. Xie and her senior compatriot and rival Zhang Ning were the most dominant international women's singles players of the middle and late parts of the decade, though they were pressed by younger teammates such as Zhu Lin, Lu Lan, Jiang Yanjiao and Wang Yihan. Due to her height and slender figure, she is regarded to have elegant movement. Xie's strengths were her reach, quickness, consistency, and court sense. She was a member of China's world champion Uber Cup teams of 2004, 2006, and 2008.
Her last appearance as a player in a major badminton competition came at the National Games of China in October 2009.
During most of her badminton career Xie was romantically involved with fellow Chinese badminton star Lin Dan. In 2006 Xie and Lin won their respective women's and men's singles titles at the IBF World Championships in Madrid. Xie had also won the world title in 2005 when Lin finished second to Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat. Xie Xingfang and Lin Dan were married in Guangzhou, China, on 13 December 2010, after seven years of dating. She is also a mother of a son, Lin Xiao Yu, who was born on 5 November 2016.

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2008Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, Beijing, China Zhang Ning12–21, 21–10, 18–21 Silver

World Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2009Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India Lu Lan21–23, 12–21 Silver
2006Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain Zhang Ning21–16, 21–14 Gold
2005Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, United States Zhang Ning11–8, 9–11, 11–3 Gold

World Cup

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2006Olympic Park, Yiyang, China Wang Yihan18–21, 19–21 Silver
2005Olympic Park, Yiyang, China Zhang Ning21–19, 21–16 Gold

Asian Games

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2006Aspire Hall 3, Doha, Qatar Wang Chen17–21, 21–17, 16–21 Bronze

Asian Championships

Women's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2009Suwon Indoor Stadium, Suwon, South Korea Zhu Lin11–21, 10–21 Silver
2000Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Ellen Angelina2–11, 11–7, 11–3 Gold

World Junior Championships

Girls' doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
1998Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia		 Zhang Jiewen Gong Ruina
Huang Sui		3–15, 15–13, 15–10 Gold

Mixed doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
1998Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia		 Cai Yun Chan Chong Ming
Joanne Quay		4–15, 3–15 Bronze

Asian Junior Championships

Girls' doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
1999National Indoor Stadium – 1,
Yangon, Myanmar		 Zhang Jiewen Li Yujia
Wei Yili		15–9, 15–6 Gold
1998Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		 Dong Fang Jun Woul-sik
Lee Hyo-jung		3–15, 8–15 Bronze

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. BWF Superseries has two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.
Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2009Singapore Open Zhou Mi19–21, 21–18, 10–21 Runner-up
2008Hong Kong Open Wang Chen16–21, 21–10, 10–21 Runner-up
2008French Open Wang Lin18–21, 21–13, 11–21 Runner-up
2008Swiss Open Zhang Ning21–18, 21–17 Winner
2007Hongkong Open Zhu Lin21–19, 21–14 Winner
2007China Open Wong Mew Choo16–21, 21–8, 17–21 Runner-up
2007French Open Pi Hongyan21–13, 21–13 Winner
2007Japan Open Tine Rasmussen15–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2007China Masters Zhang Ning21–11, 8–21, 23–21 Winner
2007Singapore Open Zhang Ning18–21, 21–19, 3–21 Runner-up
2007All England Open Pi Hongyan21–6, 21–13 Winner
2007Korea Open Zhu Lin21–14, 21–7 Winner

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation since 1983.
Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2008Thailand Open Lu Lan26–24, 21–7 Winner
2007Macau Open Jun Jae-youn21–10, 21–10 Winner
2007German Open Xu Huaiwen19–21, 21–12, 21–19 Winner
2006Japan Open Zhang Ning11–21, 21–16, 29–30 Runner-up
2006Hongkong Open Zhang NingWalkover Winner
2006Chinese Taipei Open Zhang Ning15–21, 15–21 Runner-up
2006China Masters Wang Lin21–15, 13–21, 15–21 Runner-up
2006All England Open Zhang Ning11–6, 4–11, 11–2 Winner
2005China Open Zhang Ning11–3, 4–11, 8–11 Runner-up
2005Hongkong Open Zhang Ning4–11, 11–1, 6–11 Runner-up
2005Japan Open Zhang Ning7–11, 8–11 Runner-up
2005All England Open Zhang Ning11–3, 11–9 Winner
2005German Open Zhang Ning11–5, 11–4 Winner
2004Indonesia Open Eriko Hirose11–8, 11–0 Winner
2004China Open Wang Chen5–11, 11–3, 11–4 Winner
2004German Open Xu Huaiwen9–11, 11–6, 11–7 Winner
2004Denmark Open Yao Jie11–9, 8–11, 11–7 Winner
2003Indonesia Open Wang Chen11–6, 8–11, 11–1 Winner
2003Japan Open Camilla Martin1–11, 5–11 Runner-up
2003All England Open Zhou Mi6–11, 5–11 Runner-up
1999Hong Kong Open Ling Wan Ting7–11, 11–7, 11–4 Winner

IBF International

Women's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2002French International Wang Rong7–3, 7–2, 7–1 Winner

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.